Very interesting book. If you are interested in human society dynamics highly recommended. ( )

Over before I knew it. Suggested subtitle: We Are All Rapa Nui. ( )

What made ancient civilizations die? Rome? Mesopotamia? China? Egypt? The Maya? Even Easter Islanders? That's the central question of this book by Canadian author and thinker Ronald Wright. I understand he first introduced these themes as part of a famous Canadian lecture series.

He argues that ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Rome, China, Maya, Incas, and others destroyed themselves, in large part, by using up and not replenishing their natural resources. Eventually, there were no fertile fields to farm, and thus no food to feed their populations. China and Egypt managed to endure longer than the others because they had the natural endowment of a more fertile floodplain that replenished the soil regularly, whereas Mesopotamia (Iraq) and others did not. There is a predictable cycle for this destruction, Wright explains, hoping that we can learn lessons for our own day and age before we follow their destructive patterns to the point of no return.

I picked this book up in a used library book sale at the St. George branch of the Washington County library a week ago and found his thesis interesting. I enjoyed his cross-disciplinary expertise, his pithy style, and his ability to explain and connect the major events in these civilizations' history in a way that gave me a bigger picture view of what was happening concurrently across the earth.

Towards the end of the book, he injects his modern-day political opinions into the conversation--which I did not appreciate. I'm trying to move away from that type of discourse because it is so partisan and narrow. Overall though, Wright gives a quick but erudite take on what we can learn from the great civilizations of the past before we follow their unfortunate, but predictable path. ( )

I have read many, but not all of the CBC Massey Lectures and this one for me is the best of them rivalled only by Richard Lewontin's Biology as Ideology. It is a thoughtful exposition on the impact that previous cultures have had on their environment leading to their own demise. Wright is clearly using these historical examples to shed light on our current situation and is saying "if those goes on..."

I like this rating system by ashleytylerjohn of LibraryThing (https://www.librarything.com/profile/ashleytylerjohn) that I have also adopted:
(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = quite good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful.) ( )

"Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?"

Ronald Wright attempts to answer the last question in this eye-opening exposition. The first two questions are to some extent already answered; evolution splintered us from the ape family and thousands of years later we became homo-sapiens.

Wright explains that the ruins that were left behind from past civilizations tell a story. Just like the black box of a downed plane, we should study and learn why these empires fell. This is where the concept of "progress traps" comes in. These traps are pitfalls that early humans fell victim to which lead to their eventual downfall. One example is the perfecting of hunting which lead to the extinction of many animals. Over-cultivating the land is another. If we overkill a population of animal or we continually farm the land over and over until it becomes an arid wasteland (like ancient Sumer in present day Iraq) then we are doomed. No more meat to eat and no land to grow crops on.

Are we currently in a progress trap? Nuclear weapons are still a threat. Deforestation is still happening throughout our planet. Pollution via the burning of fossil fuels and other noxious gases continues to harm the biosphere. The earth will repair itself despite our repeated mistakes however the human race will be but a memory.

"There is still hope; though not for us" ( )